Forms of Poetry

This is my work from my second poetry class, which taught me about the different forms of poetry and how to use them. Eventually, I'll get everything posted on here...but bear with me!

Oh, and here's a note: in most cases, you never realize how bad of a writer you are until you take a writing workshop. And then you get worse. If you're lucky, you'll get better after you learn how to write again. I'd say these are a BIG improvement over the Writing Poetry work, and I even kind of like some of them...but again, I have no claim for greatness.

Couplets: Two rhyming lines. The trick to a successful couplet is to make the rhymes invisible: enjamb and use slant rhymes.

Tercets: Three lines per stanza, maybe rhyming, maybe not. It all depends on the author. But you can always try Terza Rima, which is Dante Rossetti's way of saying, "Hey, I'm better than you." No, but honestly, the best way to pull it off sucessfully is to make subtle rhymes and enjamb, kinda like the couplet.

Quatrains: Four lines per stanza. When I think of quatrains, I think of Emily Dickinson. I like to give them a nice kind of beat.

Blank Verse: Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter. Think of John Milton's Paradise Lost or Wordsworth's The Prelude. I personally try NOT to think of The Prelude. I hate Wordsworth—he has ego issues.

Sonnet: Please please please don't make me explain sonnets. We're all writers here—I'm sure you all get it. Just don't ever mention love, roses, and happy things in sonnets—trust me. I found this out the hard way. Shakespeare and a bunch of other guys already wore that out.

Villanelle: Easy if you know what to write about, extremely painful if you don't. Try starting with the final couplets and then just write them on the page where they're supposed to be. Tweak the repitions a little for maximum effect.

Sestina: Again, easy if you know where to go. I absolutely loved writing this poem, even though the professor said it was one of the tougher forms. It all just kind of spilled out onto the page, and I knew exactly what end words to choose.

Free Verse: Pretty much anything you want. Doesn't have to rhyme, doesn't have to really do anything. I kind of suck at it. But I suck at poetry in general, so whatever.